Walking Off Winter Weight with Walking Off the Big Apple

I'm bored by the weight loss and fitness stories we're forced to read at this time of year. Exercise more, eat less, park your car at the far end of the parking lot, take the stairs, drink more water, la la la la la. Look at pictures of people in the gym in sweatshirts. Boring. So boring, I think I'll go see what's in the refrigerator and go back to sleep.

These preachy features often joylessly separate mind from body and tend to favor the goal over the process. They suck all the fun out of life. Walk for 30 minutes, yes, but where am I going and what will I see along the way? Where do I want to go, and what's the scenic route? Do I feel like walking in a park today or strolling along an avenue? What do I want to "walk off' (emotional and mental, in addition to baked goods with icing)?

Here's the deal. I want to lose 1.5 pounds per week between now and the vernal equinox on March 20, but I have to make the weight loss a happy incidental by-product of a journey instead of a boring chore. Otherwise I will fail.

Here's what I plan to do. It works for me: Find some fun place to walk that would require walking for 30 minutes, get a grip on what and how much food and drink is consumed, and maintain a journal. Weigh every day, and don't lie. Don't step up on the scale three times in one minute and hope it will go down. Write down the weight in the journal along with other thoughts and ideas, perhaps commentary on Mike Huckabee's weight fluctuations and why former Arkansas governors, irrespective of political party, have weight issues. Make the journal attractive. Journals, by definition, require commentary DU JOUR.

Watch out for those New York foods! Time to pull out THE CHART (walking off what you ate)! Read it and weep!